When is the 2024 NBA draft lottery? Plus odds and eligible teams

Jack McKessy, USA TODAY

The 2024 NBA Playoffs are well into their first round, but for the 14 teams on the outside looking in, it's draft season.

Each year, the 14 teams that miss the playoffs are eligible for the NBA draft lottery to win the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft. This year's draft lottery is just over one week away, and the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets lead the way in odds to secure the coveted first pick.

Here's a full breakdown of the 2024 NBA Draft lottery, including its time, location, how to watch and each team's odds to secure the No. 1 pick.

San Antonio Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt celebrates after winning the first pick in the 2023 NBA draft lottery.
San Antonio Spurs managing partner Peter J. Holt celebrates after winning the first pick in the 2023 NBA draft lottery.

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When is the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery?

The 2024 NBA Draft Lottery will be held at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, May 12. Coverage will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.

How to watch the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery

  • Cable TV: ESPN

  • Streaming: ESPN+; YouTube TV; fuboTV

HOW TO WATCH: See this year's NBA draft lottery with a fuboTV subscription

How does the NBA draft lottery work?

All teams that missed this year's playoffs – including teams eliminated during the play-in tournament – have a chance to win the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery.

The teams with the worst regular season records have the best chance to win the lottery, while teams with better records have chances that go as low as 0.5% for the 14th-worst team. As of 2019, the bottom three teams have an equal chance to win the lottery at 14% each, but the team with the lowest record can pick no lower than fourth.

Here's how the official process works behind the scenes, according to the NBA:

  • Context: Four ping-pong balls drawn at random from a sample of 14 balls will yield 1,001 possible combinations. One thousand of those combinations will be assigned to the 14 lottery teams. The one extraneous combination is a null result and is discarded should it come up during the drawing.

  • Step 1: 14 ping-pong balls are placed in a lottery machine and mixed for 20 seconds (time is kept by an official timekeeper, who "faces away from the machine and signals the machine operator after the appropriate amount of time has elapsed.")

  • Step 2: The operator draws the first ball, then mixes the remaining balls for 10 seconds.

  • Step 3: The operator draws the second through fourth balls, mixing the machine for 10 seconds in between each drawing.

  • Step 4: The team assigned the resulting combination will be awarded the No. 1 overall pick.

  • Step 5: The process is repeated four times for the top four selections.

  • Step 6: The remaining 10 teams that were not selected for one of the top four selections will select in positions 5-14 in reverse order of their regular-season records.

2024 NBA Draft Lottery teams and odds

Here are the 14 teams in the 2024 lottery and how their odds stack up. Random drawings determined the order in the case of teams with identical records. These tie-breaking procedures slightly shift odds.

  • Detroit Pistons: 14%

  • Washington Wizards: 14%

  • Charlotte Hornets: 13.3%

  • Portland Trail Blazers: 13.2%

  • San Antonio Spurs: 10.5%

  • Toronto Raptors: 9.0%

  • Memphis Grizzlies: 7.5%

  • Utah Jazz: 6.0%

  • Brooklyn Nets (to Houston Rockets): 4.5%

  • Atlanta Hawks: 3.0%

  • Chicago Bulls: 2.0%

  • Houston Rockets: 1.5%

  • Sacramento Kings: 0.8%

  • Golden State Warriors: 0.7%

2024 NBA Draft Lottery betting odds

Oddsmakers at BetMGM have set betting odds for which team will receive the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft lottery.

  • Wizards: (+550)

  • Pistons: +550

  • Hornets: +550

  • Trail Blazers: +650

  • Spurs: +750

  • Raptors: +900

  • Grizzlies: +1200

  • Jazz: +1200

  • Nets (to Rockets): +1800

  • Hawks: +2800

  • Rockets: +5000

  • Bulls: +5000

  • Kings: +8000

  • Warriors: +17500

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to watch 2024 NBA Draft Lottery: Date, time, odds and teams

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